By: Abby Boursiquot
Former President Trump recently turned himself in to Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Georgia following the 13 felony counts he and his cohorts were charged with due to the belief of tapering with the results of the 2020 presidential election. The former president is currently running for president in 2024 and is the GOP front-runner but his recent endeavors and ongoing indictment leave room to wonder how this all might affect his campaign and chances of returning to office.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/24/politics/gallery/trump-indictment-georgia-election/index.html
Photo by: Fulton County Sheriff's Office
Well even though Trump looks to be facing several felony convictions under his criminal record, he still has a chance of winning but that doesn’t go without saying that the possible proceedings could affect him in the polls which I can’t see happening due to his supporters and their known resilience through the former president‘s quite hectic career. Now the answer to what everyone may be wondering. Can the president serve as a felon? The answer is Yes. The Constitution doesn’t restrict anyone who is convicted, indicted, or serving time in jail from being president. Now I wouldn’t say that it would serve the country right if the president were calling orders from behind a jail cell but constitutionally there is no ruling to back that up.
Although all the focus is on Trump and his indictment (and maybe reelection), it would be right to also highlight the other candidates who aren’t giving the former president much competition as the closest rival he has is our “good friend” and lover of the school education system, Ron Desantis, but even Ron doesn’t come close enough. Behind Desantis is Vivek Ramaswamy who we've introduced as a candidate that favors raising the voting age in America. And behind Ramaswamy is former Vice President Mike Pence. At times you can’t completely tell whether Pence is siding with or without former president Trump but based on his very few words on the topic of the indictment, Pence has indicated that he hoped it wouldn’t have come to this but he’s also issued a much harsher statement, saying that the indictment serves as reminder that “anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be president of the United States.” Now I’m not too sure if that gives you any way to interpret the former VP’s stances on the indictment but we can probably confirm that we won’t be hearing any presidential matters from him based on his status on the “GOP Leaderboard”.
As for us as future voters, we now have the important task of following along with the news on the upcoming election and its candidates as well as also getting registered or even pre-registered. The 17-year-olds who don’t think they're old enough to vote by this year's primaries may want to research their state's regulations regarding the allowance of 17-year-old's ability to vote in the primaries based on if they’ll be 18 before next year's general election. Exciting times are Up Next for our generation and we can’t wait to see what will come of it!
Sources:
https://abc7chicago.com/can-trump-run-for-president-if-convicted-indictment-charges-a-felon-be-of-the-united-states/13587936/
https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-investigation-conviction.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/24/politics/gop-debate-trump-surrender-analysis/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-surrenders-turns-himself-in-fulton-county-jail-arrest/
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/24/politics/gallery/trump-indictment-georgia-election/index.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-poll-indictments-2023-08-20/
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